Importance
by Elanshaw
Summary: What happens when the choices you make leads to circumstances that haunt you? John and his team find out.


**This popped into my head at work and for days wouldn't go away, leaving me distracted, but happily annoyed that the creative voices hadn't gone off to sleep somewhere. I figured I should get it down so I can actually get some proper work done. Enjoy!**

**Importance**

ooooo

John ran.

Lightening shattered the night sky; a screeching cacophony; the trees bending harshly against the pounding of the wind and freezing rain crashing down on them.

And John ran.

He was a dark gazelle, his legs stretching to the point where he wasn't even sure he was touching the ground anymore. His heart beat hot in his head, pounding in his brain along with the crazed mantra he whispered over shuttered breath.

"Faster..faster..faster…"

He couldn't stop it if he tried.

ooooo

They struggled to keep him in their sights. They stopped trying to call out to him and concentrated on keeping their footing in the dark hell surrounding them. The woods were thick, nightmarish; but they knew where John was going and they wouldn't let him confront it on his own.

ooooo

John felt his body trying to seize up, but he ran. He had to get there in time. He had to…

_Oh God…_

ooooo

Things had had turned bad really quickly. They had finished trading with some of the locals and were making their way back to the gate when within seconds they were all laying in the dirt, small darts sticking out from their necks.

John had been recognized.

The next three days had them caged in squalor, their only view of the outside world was when they were force marched to a river two miles from their prison. Each day their captors tied an innocent villager to a wooden contraption perched high over the water and they would pull a lever starting the contraption up.

"Where is the location of Atlantis?" they would ask.

John and his team would never answer and as the minutes ticked by, as the contraption lowered inch by inch down to the river, the tied villager's eyes would plead at them breaking their hearts.

The first day they had drowned a man, the second day a woman. On the third day when a child no older than five was tied to the contraption Rodney turned to John, his eyes wide, panicked, pleading.

John looked at him with steady eyes, brimming shiny with unshed tears and slowly shook his head.

_No. They couldn't tell them. God forgive them, they couldn't._

They had been marched back to their prison shuffling in their burdened sadness; Ronan had remained in their prison cell. After attacking one of their captors after the first drowning, they had decided to keep him under lock and key.

Ronan had took one look at their faces then sat heavily on the dirt ground and lowered his head, his wild hair hiding his face.

On the fourth day of captivity without food or water the captors had taken John away, separating him from his team. They locked him in a hole and left him shouting for his team mates; hours later one of the captors came by and had whispered to him.

_What will happen if it's someone you care about that goes into the river?_

The captor had chuckled softly then walked away, leaving John mired in the dark imaginations of his mind.

_He couldn't tell them…he couldn't…_

ooooo

Lorne and the marines had found John first.

"I got you sir, I got you." He pulled John out of the hole he had been locked in.

Lorne stared at his leader. He was thinner, disheveled, his eyes wide, so full of emotion that Lorne had to look away.

Marine guns echoed in the distance. The cavalry had come.

John grabbed Lorne's arm, remembering the words his captor had whispered to him earlier, then turned and ran down the long corridor, Lorne and the two marines with him rapidly following.

He found the original prison cell easy enough and wrapped his fingers around the dirt stained bars squinting into the semi-darkness.

"Teyla!" his voice heavy gravel. "Rodney! Ronan!" John coughed heavily, Lorne surged forward offering him water from his bottle, but John's mind was elsewhere.

Two figures emerged from a corner of the cell.

Teyla and Ronan grabbed onto the bars and stared at John. He read their eyes and took a step back.

"Rodney?...Rodney!" he yelled, his eyes trying to pierce the dark corners of the cell looking for his friend.

"They took him Sheppard." rasped Ronan. "They took him to the river."

John's eyes widened. "When?"

"Almost 15 minutes ago." whispered Teyla.

"River? What riv…" Lorne started to ask, then he heard John moan heavily then suddenly dart pass them at full speed.

"Sir!"

"Get us out of here!" yelled Ronan, rattling the bars. "Hurry!"

ooooo

John ran.

_Rodney…Rodney…Rodney….._

_Not like this, oh God please…not like this._

Rodney feared drowning.

_Not like this…_

He heard the others in the near distance rushing up behind him. But he wouldn't slow down for them.

He felt his body wanting to shut down over the exertion he was causing it, but John grunted and pushed forward slapping at the collapsing branches threating to block his way.

The river was up ahead.

ooooo

John burst through the woods into the clearing, his heart thundering in his chest. Lightning zigzagged across the sky illuminating the dark rolling waves ahead.

The contraption was already underwater.

_No!_

He bolted towards the water not slowing down even at the rocks trying to stumble his path. He saw some of their captors making their way towards the woods further down the river's edge.

Then John heard the others bursting through the woods behind him. He threw his arm up and wildly pointed at the captors, hoping his people would notice, but John never stopped running. He was the wind as he arrived at the water's edge and without stopping dived in.

Seconds behind him Ronan roared past Teyla and Lorne and threw himself into the river after John.

Teyla and Lorne ran to the shoreline; the sound of marine guns smattering in the distance. They had seen John's gesture and Lorne ordered his men after the retreating captors.

"John! Ronan!" yelled Teyla over the sound of the deafening wind.

She fell to her knees. Lorne rushed to her offering some of his water. She pushed his bottle away swaying in the effort.

_Not Rodney..please…_

_She silently said a quick prayer to the Ancestors then got to her feet to jump in after her teammates._

"No!' yelled Lorne grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back.

Then the water broke and Ronan appeared first, followed by John and in between them, Rodney.

Silent, still, Rodney.

They pulled their friend from the water, collapsing on the shore.

Rodney was still tied heavily with rope. Lorne wondered how John and Ronan had pulled him away from the contraption, then he saw part of the contraption within the ropes that bound Rodney and realized they hadn't pulled Rodney away… they had torn the contraption apart to get to him.

Lorne had no words for that…

"Knife…knife!" shouted John at Lorne. Lorne grabbed the knife in his side pocket and quickly handed it to John who with Ronan's help cut through the water laden ropes.

Teyla ran to her teammates to help. Lorne knelt near them and could only watch as the ropes finally came lose and John threw them aside then turned Rodney over onto his back.

The paleness of Rodney's face a stark contrast in their surrounding gloom.

John automatically bent forward and began CPR; frantically breathing for Rodney whose chest didn't move.

"Dammit!" yelled John. "Rodney! Come on!"

He continued the CPR, pounding on Rodney's chest making Lorne wince in the process.

He heard Ronan and Teyla…they were trying to call Rodney back to them.

What seemed like hours passed but was only a few minutes.

John never let up on the CPR…. Rodney wasn't moving and Lorne could see the team shattering before him.

"Rodney! Damn you!" John cried out. "Not like this!"

And with one last effort John pulled back and with all his faltering strength pounded Rodney hard on the chest...

And Rodney's back arched forward and he awoke.

Gasping, faltering for air Rodney's eyes widened and he started to choke.

_He was alive! He was alive!_

The shock over hearing Rodney's gasps cutting through the wind made them freeze for a split second. Then they scrambled and each of them helped turn Rodney over onto his side, their hands touching him, encouraging him to breath.

_That's it Rodney..that's it..come on…_

Muckish water poured from Rodney's mouth; Teyla trying as best she could to wipe it away from his face. Then slowly Rodney's breathing settled into a normal rhythm and he closed his eyes.

Only then, one by one Lorne watched as the other team mates slowly lay to the ground they couldn't hold themselves up any longer.

They had held on for what was important.

Now they could rest.

**The End.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


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